"Zine's Mate -Tokyo Art Book Fair-"
at Vacant
in the Shibuya, Setagaya area
This event has ended - (2009-07-10 - 2009-07-12)
13 people bookmarked this.
7 people recommend this.
"Winter Garden: The Exploration of the Micropop Imagination in Contemporary Japanese Art" Exhibition
at Hara Museum of Contemporary Art
in the Roppongi, Akasaka area
This event has ended - (2009-05-23 - 2009-07-20)
128 people bookmarked this.
28 people recommend this.
4 people reviewed this.
Events
The weekend’s big event is “Zine’s Mate”, a new art book fair happening at two venues over three days. Head to Vacant or Gyre to pick up your art books or sophisticated handmade zines.
The Natural House Project team will unveil their finished ‘toilet’ that they have been building throughout June in Kunitachi this Sunday from 17:00. An informal party will also be held as David Pollard will be leaving Japan for a while. Details are on this PDF on the Waku Works website. For more information on the project and its founders, see TABlog’s interview with them.
TABlog recently featured a photo report of a gallery crawl around the Bakurocho area. The district’s determination to promote its sense of ‘art community’ continues with an event on July 18 organized by CET. The galleries, design offices and architecture firms in the area are all collaborating to present lectures and talks, and even walking tours. The full programme is on the Tokyo Art Point Project website.
Previously on TABlog we have mentioned the “Sound Gardening” music event held at Kiyosumi-Shirakawa’s tea pavilion. The “headphones concert” is happening again next Wednesday (July 15) with composers and musicians Kumiko Okamura, Christophe Charles and Philippe Chatelain each performing a solo for thirty minutes. There will be two sessions (15:00 and 18:25) and some tickets (priced 2,500 and 3,000 respectively) remain for the evening event. Advance reservation is required. See Christophe Charles’s website for more.
Also on July 15 is an event at the Hara Museum as part of their “Winter Garden” exhibition. There will be a talk in Japanese with curator Midori Matsui, and artists Ryoko Aoki and Makiko Kudo. It costs 1,000 yen and reservations must be made in advance by contacting the Museum. Another event, a talk with artists Lyota Yagi, is happening on July 19.
Diplomacy
With all the whaling fiasco, relations between Australia and Japan are at WW2 lows. However, although it’s a closely guarded secret, art can find a way to solve these international political problems. And that is precisely what is happening through the Utopia Project currently being developed by the two nations. The Australian online newspaper reports that an ‘art Olympic’ will be held every two years in an Asia-Pacific city, with Japan and Australia leading the other eight countries involved.
Seen online
NY Times had an article highlighting Kisho Kurokawa’s Nakagin Capsule Tower. This is one of the most famous and popular pieces of architecture in the capital. But does it deserve the attention?
Do you paint ukiyoe? If so, you might be interested in this Adachi Contemporary Ukioya Award 2009 competition.
To be seen aboard
On a slightly different scale to the Natural House Project, as reported in the Guardian, the Serpertine Gallery’s summer pavilion has been unveiled in London, designed by SANAA. Any readers who are heading to London this summer, please let us know what the structure is like.
And finally
This week saw a happy day for a certain person. Vivienne Sato, one of the most common sights at Tokyo art openings, celebrated her birthday in typical style at the Trump Room.
go
2009-07-11
Are you kidding?
This capsule tower by Kisho Kurakawa is not only a landmark building a “put your money where your mouth is” attempt at futurist living. Wrong as it may have resulted, it still is a very interesting and important landmark. Should we destroy buildings that significantly define eras and contribute to a better understanding of humanity. Why at the very least disassemble (they are Modular)the rooms and re-create the building in another location and give them to the homeless who have inhabited Ueno Park for over 40 years. Or are you hinting that the media only celebrates todays insignificant stars like Ando king of basement architecture who pale when seen up against Tange? (For you Tokyoites go sit in Tokyo Cathedral and read a newspaper, you will see what the difference really is.) The disappearance of important buildings is indeed a problem in Japan as there is no historical preservation society or incentives to preserve buildings or districts so that we do not lose the history of development.
William Andrews
2009-07-12
Thank you for your comment. You make some very interesting and valid points, I think, especially that final one about there being no historical preservation incentives. I wasn’t really hinting anything in particular; rather, I was curious if readers had any strong opinions about the building since it gets a fair bit of coverage abroad (along with Ando and Tange). Clearly you do, which is great. My personal opinion is that the building does deserve the attention it garners.